The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so

-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...

-James Branch Cabell

January 13, 2018 - 4:26 p.m.

Deni Turned to Color

I went to two doubleheaders yesterday, the first was mental health and the second musical. They are both separate admission events at the same venue. I swept both.

Every Friday I have therapy and once a month, I see my psychiatrist too. When I had a therapist but not a psychiatrist I called her my shrink. Now I'm not sure which is my shrink. My therapist thinks it's the MD; I should have asked the psychiatrist what she thought. What do my Gentle Readers think? Probably that I need to have my head shrunk for worrying about things like that.

I had to get to Rockwood Music Hall after the psychiatrist. The timing with the bus is terrible. I had a half hour wait till it came and as it usually just misses the train, there's a half hour wait for the next one. As this is not the time I usually leave, and it was raining so walking wasn't appealing I checked to see if there was a train I didn't know about. There was! I wouldn't have to wait half an hour, just 15 minutes. So, I waited for the bus. I went to the bus stop a little earlier than I had to. That proved fortunate as the bus came five minutes early. It has never done that before. That let me make the earlier train. For once everything worked out instead everything just missing.

I got to Rockwood early enough to grab some dinner first. I didn't want to walk from the 99¢ pizza place because I didn't know how hard it was raining. When I got off the subway it was just a mist and I was dressed for it in my trench coat and twill hat. I went to Rosario's pizza on Stanton, just down the block from Rockwood 3. It's more expensive course but it's also better. I had a slice of their unusual circular Sicilian pies. Topped with pepperoni and sausage it's practically a meal in itself. It's my go to pizza in the neighborhood.

Now on to the music. Deni Bonet announced the show months ago and I immediately called dibs on merch. Later Everything Turned to Color announced a show the same night and when I saw I was busy seeing Deni figured I couldn't go. Then last week they posted again, and I realized it was at Rockwood 3. Then I saw it was right after Deni! Doubleheader! I jumped into the merching breach. Woohoo!

They make an excellent co-bill, they are not similar to each other, but they appeal to the same part of my brain, the music is complex. I have seen Deni scores of time since I started blogging, she's very much one of my musicians. She's a classically trained violinist that brings in folk elements from her time as a regular on Mountain Stage, both overlaid a rock/pop base I usually describe it as party music and mention the B-52s. That was all accurate till her most recent album, Bright Shiny Objects. It's all instrumentals and the tone is different. She's exploring her more contemplative side, the pieces are moodier. It's closer to classical, dynamic classical. The pieces are moody, not stately. She takes full advantage of the violin's expressiveness.

I not only love this piece, I love the title.

Deni is a brilliant musician, a fun person, and a great friend; she is also insane. She performed last night and today she is off to Africa on a Safari. She said she hadn't packed. Her husband Andy wasn't packing, he was there too. It's exactly the kind of thing I would do. That's why we are friends.

I've known Everything Turned to Color for less than a year. They've only existed less than a year. I know them through Neha, who did a solo co-bill with Emily Mure. That was about a year ago. That was the only time I've seen her solo. She and the band both impressed the hell out of me. Someplace the called themselves jazz-infused pop. The jazz comes from Neha, whose goal is to be the Indian Ella Fitzgerald, the folk side comes from Bryan and Kyle Weber. The pop comes from osmosis. Their sound is nothing like Deni's, but they have that same melding of influences and freedom from the genre box. They did two Beatle's covers and those will give some indication of where they are coming from, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. They did an Ella cover too, Moonlight in guitar. I have to see what I said about her voice last night; I know I heard Ella's style in her singing but not the quality of her voice. This time I heard Madeleine Peyroux. I checked last time I heard Madeleine and Terre Roche. I'm consistent, it must be real. It's not all Neha, Bryan sings lead on songs and is also a brilliant vocalist. Kyle sings harmonies and plays electric guitar and percussion. Except for Emily they are totally outside my musical circle; they shouldn't be. Next time somebody is going to come with me. I was disappointed. I made a Facebook Event for the doubleheader and none of my friends came.

Give them a listen now.

After the show I headed out. That wasn't easy as the backroom above Rockwood 3 was packed with people coming from Rockwood 2. It was one of those times I was relieved to get out of a room. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to give Neha a proper goodbye and Bryan and Kyle proper hello and goodbye.

It was back to just misting to I made my usual walk to the Astor Place stop on the 6, stopping on the way for 99¢ pizza. There was some problem on the train, it ran very slowly, but I wasn't in a rush and didn't let it bother me. At the end the timing worked well with the bus, I had a short wait.

I'm going out again tonight and don't have that much time. I see that I'm not going to be able to go shopping first. That's unfortunate. I have to try and get an earlier start tomorrow, no sleeping late.